Ever wonder what goes into creating a world? It’s a lot more than you think!

In this special post, just for patrons, we’ll check out some of our early Bean illustrations and compare them to the final product. The illustrations in this post are from Bean’s first adventure, Bean Takes a Walk, available September 13!

Living in a Human World?

Matt says: It was an interesting process figuring out exactly what this world looks like. In the first sketches of Bean Takes a Walk he is shown climbing under a human-built fence. It became obvious to us early on that Bean doesn’t exist in a human world, and that the “garden” isn’t a human one. The final illustration has Bean leaping over a proportionally correct fence.

Location, Location, Location

Matt says: Every book is sketched out long before the final illustrations are complete. Here’s an example of how the idea carries through to the final image. It proved to be an interesting challenge figuring out exactly where the ‘Wildflower Forest’ exists, in relation to Miss Tots’ home. The initial sketch shows it is directly behind her house, which wound up being incorrect in the final illustration.

One, Two, Three!

Matt says: Sometimes the final illustration ends up being exactly what it was in the very first sketch. The only real difference here is that I got the number of Peas wrong in the first sketch!

Thank you!

We hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at Bean’s earliest adventure! Let us know by posting your feedback to our community page.

Ann BevansAnn Bevans is a writer, explorer, gym rat and pizza aficionado. When she isn’t stuffing words into the mouths of anthropomorphic vegetables, she writes fiction and creative non-fiction for teens and adults. She does all her own stunts. Ann lives in Clarksburg, Maryland, with her husband, Dave, and their son, Sam.